CHESTER — The insertion of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup into an otherwise hectic MLS schedule can elicit different reactions from teams.

For a squad like the Philadelphia Union, it can be a proving ground to overturn spells of futility in the league and generate momentum. For the New England Revolution Tuesday night, the Open Cup appeared a nuisance to be disposed of as quickly as possible … and at about half-speed. That’s how two clubs with drastically different fortunes in MLS this season arrived at a 2-0 win for the Union in the quarterfinals of the domestic cup competition in a game delayed by almost an hour due to hazardous weather.

Goals by Conor Casey and Sebastien Le Toux on either side of halftime heralded an excellent effort from the Union, who were miles ahead of the Revolution in terms of energy and effort in the game.

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The win advances the Union to the Open Cup semifinals for the second time in club history and puts them two wins from the organization’s first trophy. It’s also just the second win for the Union in six all-time Open Cup dates with MLS opposition. The Union are 5-0 against lower-division sides.

The Union will travel to meet the winner of FC Dallas and NASL side Carolina Railhawks in a quarterfinal to be played Wednesday. The semifinal date will be either Aug. 12 or 13.

The game was delayed in the 61st minute when gale-force winds blew squalls of dust off the parking lot and into the River End of the stadium. Both teams were sent inside and the stands evacuated during a lightning delay of 58 minutes before the teams returned to the field.

The score wasn’t wholly indicative of the home side’s control of play early on. The Union ran rampant on the visitors in the first half, generating nearly a dozen chances and producing some of their best attacking soccer of the season.

The scoring payoff came after nine minutes, when Casey exploited a napping New England defense. Out of seemingly nothing when Sheanon Williams delivered a hopeful free kick from 20 yards inside the Union’s half, Casey latched onto a bounding ball as the Revolution defenders raised their hands appealing for offside.

Casey still had plenty of work to do, taking a touch to get around goalkeeper Brad Knighton down the left channel and finishing with a shot from an acute angle off the inside of the right post.

The Union had a myriad other opportunities in the first half, most generated by dangerous movement between Cristian Maidana, Le Toux and Danny Cruz. Casey should’ve bagged a second, but he couldn’t quite turn a through ball from Ray Gaddis goalward.

The closest the Union came to a second goal in the first half was courtesy of Williams in the 42nd minute. A cross from Fabinho off a corner taken short found Williams near the penalty spot, and his header thumped the underside of the crossbar and bounced down, landing in front of the goal line and bouncing out of the penalty area.

The next goal for the Union was a gift from former Union goalie Knighton, who saw Le Toux’s free kick delivery in the 47th minute squirt between his gloves and into the net. On a curling free-kick delivery — drawn by Maidana, who was sent sprawling by defender AJ Soares some 20 seconds after he entered the fray — from 20 yards near the left sideline, Knighton made a mess of what became Le Toux’s seventh goal in seven games across all competitions.

The tally was Le Toux’s 14th career U.S. Open Cup goal, breaking a four-way tie to make him the leading scorer in the MLS era of the competition.

The Revolution’s first-half performance was sufficiently lackluster to warrant two changes at halftime from coach Jay Heaps, introducing Soares for struggling defender Stephen McCarthy and Diego Fagundez for Saer Sene up top. (Sene, to be fair, came nearest to a Revs goal in the first 45 minutes, having an effort cleared off the line by Maurice Edu in the 11th and side-footing a shot off the post in the 39th.)

Fagundez helped New England, losers of four straight MLS games, come to terms with the game, including some good movement with Steve Neumann that led to a shot by the New Hope native that Zac MacMath did well to kick out a leg and deny in the 53rd minute. MacMath, who wasn’t tested in the first half, did well to get his palms to a drive by Teal Bunbury three minutes earlier, the Revs slipping Bunbury behind the defense after quickly taking a free kick near the edge of the box. Those two saves were all MacMath had to make on the day, earning just his fourth clean sheet of the season in all competitions.

Neither team generated much beyond a steady stream of yellow cards after the game resumed. The nearest attacking threat for the Union was a Maidana free kick from a similar position on the right wing as Le Toux’s goal that Knighton smartly punched instead of trying to corral in the 72nd minute. The Revs, meanwhile, appealed for a penalty in the 84th minute on what appeared to be a clear-cut handball by Amobi Okugo, but those shouts fell on deaf ears. Just for good measure, Soares added a second yellow in stoppage time for hauling down Andrew Wenger, earning an early ticket to the showers.